Buffering strategies for managing transportation construction projects

Uncertainty is an inherent part of production systems. In construction processes, production variability emerges as one of the most typical representation of uncertainty. Negative variability impacts in construction demands effective solutions to mitigate its effects on the accomplishment of projects. The incorporation of buffers constitutes powerful tools to resolve uncertainty problems in construction processes and to optimize the construction operations sequencing. Despite the fact that buffering strategies have been implemented in building construction, there is no evidence of specific applications of these strategies in highway projects. Based on discrete event simulation modeling, a new approach of buffering strategies applied to transportation projects is presented. Selection of most relevant buffers is followed by modeling the whole construction process in a transportation construction project, using discrete event simulation. As a part of this modeling process, the localization and size of these buffers will be determined in order to decrease the negative impacts of variability in the construction process. Actual project data will be used as input to validate the model and determine the benefits of buffering strategies in transportation construction projects.